turn to the passage that I read
earlier and I'd like to focus on those words
that we find in verse 19 Jeremiah chapter 3 but I said how shall I put thee
among the children and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage
of the hosts of nations. And I said thou shalt call me
my father and shalt not turn away from me. Now these words are the words
of the Lord in consultation with himself to my mind it's like
the trinity in conversation considering Israel how shall I put thee among
the children and give thee a pleasant land a goodly heritage of the
nations and he's speaking about under the gospel he's not speaking
about under the law and would do as well to to just consider
what has come before specifically here in Jeremiah because I am
struck by the utter hopelessness the helplessness of men who are
under the law and especially we see it here in this passage,
what was Israel about? Because there is no way that
they could be accepted. I trust that we can see that.
There's no way they can be accepted by a holy God because of what
it speaks of as their spiritual adultery. our worship is not
just here in this place it's from our souls it's that which
comes from within us up to God we are a spiritual people the
church of Christ is a spiritual people and the people of Israel
are a picture of that in the old testament but the difference
is they were a people under the law whereas for the saints of
God we are a people, the people of God under Christ and as we
see from the example that we have here that without Christ we're hopeless
we're under condemnation and wrath the scripture is very plain
you may if you're not one of the Lord's people doubt the scriptures
you may mock the scriptures you may mock God I don't know but the word of God speaks to
all men when it says in Romans 14 verse 10 we shall all stand
before the judgment seat of Christ. Now I'm not trying to rip the
verse out of context but it is a point it's not just mentioned
here in Romans 14 it's also mentioned in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse
10 which also says about standing under the judgment seat before
the judgment seat of Christ and in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27 and 28 and it is a excuse
me yeah and it is appointed unto men once to die but after this
the judgment it is appointed unto men once
to die and that's not the end of it some people will have us
believe but after this the judgment and thanks be unto God it doesn't
stop there for in verse 28 Hebrews 9 so Christ was once offered
to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin unto salvation that should
be is the hope of the saint this is the glory of God salvation
in Jesus Christ the salvation in none other but he wants us
to bear in mind and just what we are and whom God is. He's
a holy God and he will judge. Thanks to God that we've already
been judged in Christ. What happened at Calvary goes
backward in time and it goes forward in time. It's from eternity. So the saints are no longer under
judgment. Praise God because if we were
under judgment, we would be under the law. we're not now under
the law as Paul said so we're not under judgment the two go
together they fit just like that or better than my hands and despite ourselves we have
this hope to look to Christ but let us go back to where Israel
is here because under the law they're hopeless and helpless
Now let us remember also the many privileges that Israel had. What were those privileges? Well
we can see how the Lord brought them out from Egypt. How he established them. Their
father Abraham, the promises given to Abraham. Two sets of
promises. The first one was as a national
covenant and the other one was a promise of grace through Christ. remember as the Lord Jesus Christ
said Abraham rejoiced to see my day and was glad so there's
not just one covenant operating there's two covenants operating
at the same time right from the beginning we see that with the
with Adam being clothed bloodshed of an animal and he and Eve clothed
there's you see covenant goes right back So what were the privileges especially
to Israel? Well, if we go back to Deuteronomy,
they had the law of God given to them. Not just the law, but
promises made. Deuteronomy 6, 7, sorry, verses
6 and 7. For thou art an holy people
unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that
are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love
upon you, nor choose you because you were more in number than
any people, for ye were the fewest of all people. But because the
Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he
had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out
with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen
from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt and there we have a
picture in that promise a picture of what would be for the people
of God to be brought out from Egypt from the world and brought into a place, a land
of milk and honey. But note that verse, they were
to be a holy people. Holy means a separate people.
It doesn't just mean separated from, separated from the world,
but it's separated unto God, unto God. And we must bear that
in mind. Sometimes we only think of half of it. separated from
the world and that is right we should be separated from the
world but we're separated unto God that has remembered that's
what we are meant to be and that's what they were to be special
the many privileges that the Lord's and promises that the
Lord gave them verse 12 of Deuteronomy 7 Wherefore it shall come to
pass if ye hearken to these judgments and keep and do them that the
Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy
which he sware unto thy fathers and he will love thee and bless
thee and multiply thee he will also bless the fruit of thy womb
and the fruit of thy land thy corn and thy wine and thine oil
the increase of thy kind and of the flocks of thy sheep in
the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. And
we can read about that in the times of the judges as they entered
into the promised land, the time of Joshua as well. We see how the Lord did work
for them, he delivered them, he fulfilled all the promises
that he made them, that he gave to them. but we must also remember
that there was a law given. I'm reminded of that just going
back to Deuteronomy 5 where there is a rehearsal, a repeat of the
commandments of God given to them. Deuteronomy 5 verses 6
to 21. Notice the people's response
in verses 27 and 28 where they say to Moses
go near and hear all that the Lord our God shall say and speak
unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee and
we will hear it and do it. Last time I was here it mentioned
Leviticus chapter 19 verse 37 the promise was to the Lord's
people or to as Israel national Israel to observe and to do all
of the Lord's commandments it wasn't just note them write them
in a book it was to keep them to do them We also read of the Lord's word
to Moses in verse 29 of Deuteronomy 5. Oh that they were such in
heart in them that is in Israel that they would fear me and keep
all my commandments always that it might be well with them and
with their children forever. we might take note of that that
the Lord is acknowledging to Moses that this was a people
really that weren't going to they couldn't even if there was
a let's take it as there was a sincere desire with the people
of Israel at that time that they should hear God's holy word and
that they would do them they failed even if they wanted
to most sincerely and they worked at it still they failed and you
see the result of that when we come to excuse me Jeremiah chapter
3 their spiritual adultery it's not really very pleasant to read about and
yet it's the truth it's the truth of men's hearts that we without
grace we will follow every way every religion every philosophy
of men except the truth of Christ. Why is that? It's because we're
perverse. Because we are totally and utterly
fallen. Does it mean that we can't do
good deed? No it does not. But it means
in the sight of God we cannot because we are an idolatrous
and foolish people. And we really do need to relate
what the Lord speaks of to israel to ourselves that we might take
note and we might heed God's holy word and it might give us
a right sight of human nature it gives me no pleasure but i
will say it that many have wandered from the pathway of sovereign
grace can we not see that the old testament
is as long as it is, it's longer than the New Testament because
it tells us time and time and time again how men fail that
is our object lesson is the practicality of the doctrine of sin that the natural man cannot
receive the things of God He won't receive, they're spiritually
discerned, there must be the Holy Spirit to discern these
things in our hearts, that we might keep God's law, might know
God, and that we might fear him. But in the Old Testament, we
see time after time, that under the law, there is just no progress. There might be for a little bit,
we read of that in the Judges. In the time after Judges, and
to Joshua and while the elders have lived who were with Joshua while
they were still alive things to seem to be going okay and
then it's not far into the book of Judges where when the elders
that were with Joshua died out that they went sinning and all
the blessings that the Lord promised them They were taken away. The Midianites came and stole
all their court. We see it time after time. How
many times did the Lord raise up judges to turn them back to
him? We see the Lord speaking to these
people after speaking of their sins. We come though to verse 12. where
the Jeremiah is told go and proclaim these words unto the north and
say return that backsliding Israel saith the Lord I will not cause
mine anger to fall upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord
I will not keep anger forever and now we're moving now into
that new covenant this is the old covenant as it were up to
verse 11 and now we see the mercy of God and under the law there's
no mercy there's no provision for mercy but under the mercy
of God in the covenant of grace there is promises promises are
made that if they will return I will not cause mine anger to
fall upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord and I will not
keep anger forever but there are conditions only
acknowledge thine iniquity that's at the beginning of verse 13
and at the beginning of verse 14 turn O backsliding children
acknowledging their sin and repentance but we're not going to acknowledge
our sins are we? because we don't see that we're
sinners we don't see it without the Lord working in our souls
without the Lord granting us faith we will not see our sin
we can't see it we can't acknowledge that we
have transgressed against God and we're certainly not going
to repent we're too proud to stuff full of our own conceitedness
to repent of our sins there must needs be true repentance
there must be true faith to acknowledge our iniquities and that is by God's grace who
speaks of in Ephesians chapter two, by grace are you saved through
faith. That is the gift of God. Not
something you can work up in yourselves. Although you could,
but you can't. It is a gift. This is the essential part of
the covenant of grace, the work of God in our souls. It's the mercy of God which we need because we're under the
curse of the law. Now I'm not losing sight of verse
19 But the question that the Lord, as it were, puts to himself,
how shall I put thee among the children? How shall the Lord
put Israel? Because he's not totally cast
off his people, Israel, has he? Paul says that. He's not cast
away, because even Paul was a Jew. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
So it's not as if to say, right, the Jews, you've had it. finished
with you I'm not going to deal with you anymore I'm only going
to go to the gentiles no the message of the gospel was to
the Jews as well as to the gentiles but there is a problem isn't
there because the Jews still see themselves as being under
the law as far as I understand it that's the heart of being
a Jew the law that was the Pharisees that's why the Pharisees hated
Christ because Christ was saying he wasn't he wasn't saying I'm
going to abolish the law he wasn't doing what the Pharisees thought
he was doing he was saying that there's no acceptance before
God under the law he must come through me that's the nub of
it all they couldn't acknowledge their
iniquity and they certainly weren't going to turn from their backsliding
but there needs to be this work of grace it needs to be pointed
out that salvation is by grace alone and we see here in verse
14 where he speaks of that relationship with the church and with his
people for i am married unto you and i will take you one of
a city and two of a family and i will bring you to zion i will bring you to zion the holy
city or zion not the jerusalem of old where they had the temple
but to the new jerusalem the city in heaven. The new covenant then is a covenant
of mercy and of grace and of promises and a relationship with
God. Remember those words that are
spoken of in Jeremiah but also in Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 8 verse 8 to the end for finding
fault with them that's the old covenant he says behold the days
come saith the lord when i will make a new covenant with the
house of israel and with the house of judah not according
to the covenant that i made with their fathers in the day when
i took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of egypt
because they continued not in my covenant and i regarded them
not said the lord for this is the covenant that i will make
with the house of israel after those days said the lord i'll
put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts and
i will be to them a god and they shall be to me a people and they
shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother
say know the lord for all shall know me from the least to the
greatest for i will be merciful to their unrighteousness and
their sins and their iniquities will i remember no more in that
he saith a new covenant he hath made the first old Now that which
decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. Do we know the
words of those covenants in our hearts? Do we know God? Is our relationship as it were
in the Old Testament where the word of God the law was read
every seven years and they rehearsed it the priests and the Levites
rehearsed it in their ears regularly or is it the work of the Holy
Spirit in our souls teaching us of God knowing God knowing
the righteousness of God it's also knowing ourselves as well
do we know the promises do we see the remnants of God is mentioned
one of a city two of a family in Matthew 24 and Romans no longer
then is Israel a special nation under the old covenant but there
is now a new covenant a spiritual people who have a relationship
with God each one knowing knowing God it's interesting Galatians
chapter 2 there's so many things going on that I'm reading about
recently I'm not going to mention it because here is you might
know of it you might not but I shall turn to the Word of God
which speaks against such things Galatians 2 verse 20. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. Excuse me, speaking
of the new birth. And the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. It's that last part of the sentence. the son of God who loved me and
gave himself for me. Personal. Personal relationship. It's not merely a relationship
as some might say with nations or what. It's with an individual. The nations is made of individuals
anyway. We know that surely. And when
nations But when the people of nations seek after sin, the nation
goes after sin eventually. It starts like a snowball. It's
big at the top of the hill, it's massive at the bottom, or it
can be. And that's what happens with sin. Rolling down, rolling
down, picking up more and more until we've got what we've got
today. Can it get worse? Unfortunately,
yes. But thanks be to God that we
are not at the mercy of the world we're under the mercy of God
so he gave himself for me a personal people as individuals the church
is built of individuals notice also in Jeremiah verse 15 I will give you pastors according
to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding,
and it shall come to pass. When you be multiplied and increased
in the land in those days, saith the Lord, it shall say no more.
The ark of the covenant of the Lord, neither shall it come to
mind, neither shall they remember it, neither shall they visit
it, neither shall that be done anymore. At that time, they shall
call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all the nations
the Gentiles be gathered into it to the name of the Lord to
Jerusalem neither shall they walk anymore after the imagination
of their excuse me evil heart pastors and shepherds who will
feed them with knowledge and understanding not just priests
and Levites not priests and Levites priests unto God yes but they
will feed them Reminds you of the 23rd Psalm,
doesn't it? The Lord's my shepherd, I shall
not want. Trying to find Job, chapter 32. Verse 8, where we have this promise
of the Lord. But there is a spirit in man,
and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. There is a spirit in man. And
the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. What is the inspiration of God? What is the inspiration of the
Almighty? Well, you also find that word in 2 Timothy 3.16,
all scripture is given by inspiration of God. Not just given by inspiration
of God, but is profitable. it's a passage that probably
we know very well but it's also a passage which I often don't get 100% right because it's important that we
see what the scripture is for all the scripture is given by
inspiration of God by the Holy Spirit and it's profitable for
doctrine for reproof for correction For instruction in righteousness
that the man of God may be perfect, throughly finished unto all good
works. Notice that, doctrine, teaching.
For reproof, telling you off when you get it wrong. For correction,
not just telling you off, but showing where's the right way
to go. For instruction in righteousness,
it's righteousness which exalteth a nation. not sin you know what's going on at the
moment I don't want to even mention it by name but people think it's
wonderful oh aren't we libertarians or we like people to feel free
we don't feel the constraint well nothing wrong with constraint
if it comes from God's word because it's that which keeps us safe
It's the law of the land which hopefully keeps us safe when
we go out of that door, drive on the road. If we didn't have
laws and everybody wanted to, it's just a simple illustration.
If everybody drove where they wanted to, what would be the
result? So why do we see it any different
from God's Holy Word? That the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly grown up, that's what it means. throughly furnished
unto all good works which we can only work in God in Christ
all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags and we know that
all our filthy rags must be taken off Zechariah chapter 3 where
it speaks of Joshua the high priest standing before the Lord
and the Lord says to the as to the Lord, I think, take away
his filthy rags, and they take off his filthy rags, and they
give him a new cloak? No, a robe, sorry, a robe, a
white robe. And we can link that through
to Revelation 19, where it speaks of the righteousness of the saints. The fine linen is the righteousness
of saints. It's not righteous deed, but
that righteousness which we see in Zechariah chapter three. In
the Old Testament, gospel promise, speaking of what comes under
the New Covenant. Not in the New Testament, the
New Covenant. We divide the Bible, you're probably aware, but just
in case you don't, the Bible is split into Old Testament,
New Testament. The Old Covenant and the New
Covenant don't work together, they work along at the same time.
I hope I put that straight. I hope I put it correctly before
you. That even though there is the old covenant with the Jews,
there's still people saved under the covenant of grace. King David is just but one of
them. So the preaching is to feed. That's what the purpose
of preaching is for. To rebuke. To correct. Doctrine. Instruction. In righteousness. We have examples of preaching
from Christ himself. We have the apostles. And we
do well to study how they preach. I'm not going to go into that but it is necessary for us to
understand how we should preach to men. So we have the Spirit's work
to instruct us and the answer to the question then that the
Lord gives to himself or the consultation is probably a better
way of putting it how shall i put thee among the children how shall
he put israel among the children of grace but through grace there's
no other way there's a lot more i could say about that which
i'd like to but i haven't got the time but there is only one
way to be brought into the household of faith. And that is through
the grace and mercy of God. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's the only way our sins can
be dealt with. It's through the mercy of God.
Oh, we can see that. Read more of the Old Testament.
You see more of what Israel got up to. But it's why we can also preach God is merciful to sinners and
that we can say in the words of Paul in Romans chapter 10 why we can say these words Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. There's so much in that. The name of the Lord. Not just
Jesus. I'm not being irreverent. I'm
not saying you can say Jesus save me. What are you going to
be saved from? What is it to be saved from?
With the curse of the Lord. From our own sinfulness. Our
own unrighteousness. Who is the Lord? He's God. He's Christ. he's a saviour of
his people call his name Jesus which will save his people from
their sins he's Emmanuel which is God with us he's a holy God
so we're not just talking of somebody who's a prophet we're
talking of the holy and righteous God who can send sinners to hell whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved yes it is calling upon Jesus
Christ but it's seeing him as the only
hope because we see no help in ourselves notice that in Jeremiah
3 it says only acknowledge thine iniquity that thou hast transgressed
against the Lord thy God it goes on to give an example and turn,
as I said at the beginning we can't do it we must call to the
Lord we've got to see our hopelessness our helplessness we have to see
that we are under condemnation and wrath the lifeboat don't go out unless
there is a reason to save somebody who is in danger Christ isn't
a lifeboat but the same thing applies we must see that we're
in danger and that is a work of grace but be assured God is merciful
and he'll hear sinners he hears the earnest prayer remember the Pharisee and the Publican
well we've got an example the Pharisee is a I do this I do
that I do wonders etc and the words of the publican God have
mercy on me a sinner and that's exactly what that publican did
here he called upon the name of the Lord and was saved that's
the promise simple isn't it no we complicate it because of our
own sin but that's the reality of the scriptures and the great blessing as we see in Jeremiah 3. Thou shalt call me my father. Bringing them into the household
of faith. Thou shalt call me my father
and shalt not turn away from me. Because it is this new covenant
of grace. Call me my Father. What did the Lord Jesus Christ
teach us how to pray? What method we should pray? Our
Father. Where? Which art in heaven? Romans 8 For you have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the
spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Ye have not
received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received
the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba. Father. The fatherliness of the
Father. Right. Identifying God as a real
Father. Spiritual Father. Father who
loves us and cares for us. Holy Father. Saved from sin and wrath through
Christ. I think it's Galatians as well. I just want to make a note of. There is one
body and one spirit even as ye are called in one hope of your
calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father
of all who is above all and through all and in you all. That's the blessing and the promise
of the eternal covenant of grace. So much more I had prepared,
I shall leave it there. I think it's enough really for
us to think about but to remember the gospel of sovereign grace.
What a mercy to sinners that By his grace, by his spirit,
we might call upon God, who, we have broken his law, you have.
I can say that with confidence. You have broken his law. We're
all sinners, but we're sinners saved by grace. And for those
of you who don't know God, who don't know the work of the Holy
Spirit, think upon what I've said this morning. Think about
what other men have said from this pulpit. Think upon what
you are before God. And maybe, if the Lord's a good
time, don't despair, don't give up on it either. Call upon the
Lord, that he might have mercy upon you. And just, you know,
if you can't think of anything else, if you think, oh, you might
just pass from your mind. Think of those words of that
publican, God. have mercy upon me, a sinner. Because that's the way that the
Lord brings us into the eternal Church of Christ, into the body
of Christ, the Lord our Saviour. Lord have mercy upon us and grant
us understanding of these things for the good of our souls, in
his holy name.